Driving
by KatNikki
Summary: While country-boy Bertholdt has always loved the peacefulness of a drive, his inner-city girlfriend, Annie, never got her license. For whatever reason, Annie's interested in learning, and, of course, she asks Bertholdt for lessons. BeruAni fanfic. Set in same AU as Chicken Soup.


**A/N: I need to stop writing at freakin' 2 AM. Seriously. I did this to myself last night, now I'm doing it again. I'm a lunatic. **

**...**

**MY PUNS ARE FUNNY AND YOU KNOW THEY ARE.**

***ahem***

**Anyways. Fun times. This was a prompt based story (first one!) for BeruAni. The prompt was from kowabungalow on tumblr who said: "how about bert teaching girlfriend annie how to drive?" I thought it was a pretty fun prompt, so I decided to take a stab at it. I hope everyone likes it. Seriously, please review! If you've got criticisms, please let me know. I'm open to everything. (and I'm sure there are typos in this. Again. It's 2 AM. How I'm functioning right now is a mystery to me.) **

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Bertholdt loves cars.

Perhaps it isn't the car itself that he loves as much as it is the drive. He loves the smoothness of the turns, the way the car gently rolls to a stop (or not so gently, in the case that a bunny has hopped into the road), the soft purring of the engine behind him… Every sound and silence that floods his vehicle is a tranquilizer, quelling that vicious anxiety coursing through his veins with bright, warm memories. Back in his hometown, the roads were all intricate pieces of art: line work carving out the country side into sharp twists and gentle hills, waiting to be explored by a receptive and curious heart. Bertholdt could never contain the urge to get lost somewhere deep in the mountains, especially when things at home started to turn sour. To him, the highway was a river, and each back-country holler was a tributary, leading him to a utopia where his trivial problems of the day never mattered anymore. That was the thing he missed the most about living in the city now: With no need to drive in the hectic city centers, Bertholdt had lost that escape. Being back on the road again now, for the first time in what felt like years, feels so refreshing that his hands, for once, aren't shaking so bad. He can already feel the peace flooding over him as he takes in the scenic view he has of the park thirty miles out of the city.

"Bertholdt, I can't see over the steering wheel."

Bertholdt breaks from his thoughts as Annie speaks, a glowing fire burning in her pretty eyes. He suppresses a laugh, seeing her half-lidded look as a warning.

_Perhaps it's not _that _peaceful._

This morning, when Annie had asked (or demanded; the two were synonymous when it came to Annie) for Bertholdt's assistance in learning how to drive, he had agreed without reservation. Annie never asked him for anything before then because she could do most everything on her own – even grabbing things from high shelves, though she usually had Reiner do it (when he wasn't being lazy). Besides, how could he have refused when those intense blues of hers had trained themselves on his gaze? Annie never needs to persuade him to do anything with her, anyways. One look and he's gone.

"H-have you raised the seat up?" He asks, although he's sure he knows the answer.

"Yeah, I just did." She replies. "I can't see above the damn dash."

"I had thought this might happen…" He says quietly, reaching into the backseat. When he produces two fluffy pillows, Annie sends him a chilling look. "U-um, you don't h-have to use them if you don't want t-to!" He's quick, ready to put the pillows back. "Th-that was just an old trick my grandmother used to do. Sh-she was, um… not very tall."

Somehow, the story slows the burn of the blue fire in Annie's eyes; she silently takes the pillows and stuffs them onto her seat. As she settles, Bertholdt's mind begins to wonder again, remembering all the adventures he had had on the road when he was in high school. The one that sticks out the most in his mind was after prom, when the girl he had taken as his partner left with another boy. He had watched them dance once before that night, while he stayed in the background where he liked it. He knew the other boy would have been the best fit for her – someone as bubbly and free as she was could never be with a wallflower like Bertholdt – but it still hurt when he was left behind. That night when they'd all left to go home and Bertholdt had dropped Reiner off, he went out searching. The drive itself had calmed him down considerably, but it was the taking of a new road – a new tributary – that gave him the dream to explore even farther beyond his comfort zone.

"Will you pay attention to me?"

Bertholdt squeaks as he comes out of his mind again, realizing that Annie's hooked nose is touching his, her eyes narrowed at him. She's unfazed by his high-pitched noise, though he can see a smirk play at her lips before she moves back to her comfortable level on the driver's side. "We don't have all day, and I don't know a damn thing about cars." Annie says. "So how the hell do I work this thing?"

"W-well…" Bertholdt takes in a deep breath, leaning over to get a good view at her side. "The dash has a lot of things that I think you're already familiar with. There's the speedometer, the fuel gauge, oil heat, the miles on the car, and the temperature outside. There are lights that will come on in case of certain situations, like when a door is open…"

The explanations are simple and take little time; Annie must be a fast learner, since she memorizes the terms for every knob and pedal throughout the car. Of course, Bertholdt had no doubts this would be the easy part. It's what he would have to do next that makes him most apprehensive. "Y-you haven't driven a car, have you, Annie?" He asks, afraid of the answer he knows is coming.

"Nope. I lived in the inner city my whole life. You didn't need a permit when you couldn't ever drive anywhere anyways." She replies, running her curious fingers over the gear shift.

"O-okay."

"What? Don't you trust me?"

There's a laugh in her voice – or as much of a laugh as Annie's voice would ever have – but the half seriousness of her question remains. Bertholdt swallows and smiles, sweat dribbling down the side of his face. "O-of course I do, Annie." His fingers brush her cheek, a careful science to the way he runs his finger up and down for a moment. "Well, um… th-the way my mom taught me how to drive started out in a park like this. We j-just drove around in a big square, so uh… I guess let's give that a shot?" His voice is quiet. "P-put it in reverse."

The minute Annie takes her foot off the break and steps onto the gas is the minute in time that Bertholdt's heart seems to stop beating.

The car shoots back too quickly as Annie pushes the pedal down, stopping abruptly when she corrects herself by slamming on the breaks. Bertholdt maintains an outward calm, swallowing the fear and the noises that come with it in order to keep Annie comfortable in the driver's side. "N-not a bad start…" He says. "But try not to be so hard on the g-gas, especially in reverse. If you go out quickly l-like that, you may end up hitting something or… someone."

Annie grunts in response, letting the car roll forward again. As she pulls out again, the car juts out less, but still too fast, braking just a little too harshly. She looks at him for approval and he swallows. "That's b-better!" He watches her mouth crinkle in frustration, her thin eyebrows knitting together. She pulls into the parking space again, trying to slow her pace when she backs out again. This time, she goes out slow, but she slams her foot too hard on the brake again. Her hands tighten on the steering wheel. "A-Annie…" Bertholdt tries to say, seeing her anger beginning to bubble over.

"One more time. Then I'll have it." She replies through gritted teeth.

Thirty minutes later, Annie looks up at him. "What's next?" She asks, tired eyes staring at him.

"W-well… Let's go to the e-end of the parking lot and turn left to s-start the square." He points. She gets to the end just fine, but as she turns the wheel, she clips the curb, taking the turn too tight. The next time she comes to another turn to complete the square, she's practically in the grass, trying to stay too close to her side of the road. As Bertholdt tries to coach as best he can, he realizes very quickly how awful a teacher he must be. When she pulls into the original parking space again, her face red, he touches her hand. "I-I'm sorry, Annie. Let's… um… take a break." She stays quiet, but he takes her silence as agreement and turns the car off.

"How do you _like _doing this?" She asks, a hand running through her sunny locks. "I haven't learned a damn thing and we've been doing this for an _hour._"

"I'm not really the g-greatest teacher, Annie…" He replies quietly. "My mom was always good at teaching stuff like this, so it was always fun when I learned how. W-we don't have to keep going, though; I can just drive us home. M-maybe we can even stop at that restaurant—"

"No."

Her response is curt, startling him, and he uses what little will he has to look into her eyes. There's something smoldering inside her, a determination that seemingly nothing can squelch as she backs up again and again, repeating the course over and over. Bertholdt can only observe from a distance as she practices. With each bump and brake she grunts, still unfazed. He can only relate it to another time when he was first driving. The first time he took a back road was by happenstance; he'd gotten lost again trying to go home. He wasn't used to the sharp curves in the hills of the country, finding that his breaths became shorter each time he had to swerve from crashing into another car or flying off the road into the depths of the Earth down below. Halfway through, he'd been crying so much that he had to pull over and call Reiner to come get him.

Annie isn't like him, though. Annie is calm and collected – albeit frustrated – and her determination never falters. As she circles each time, the ride becomes smoother; she clips the curb every once and a while, but the car has started to purr, warming up to her touch. Bertholdt starts to lose himself in the scenery again, relaxing into the car seat as Annie commands the vehicle. Bertholdt sneaks glances at her every once and a while, but for the most part he sits quietly, his hand on the cup holder.

A few more times around the circle and Annie has finished her practice. She pulls the keys out of the ignition before flicking her gaze in his direction; Bertholdt blushes, realizing she's caught him staring again. She doesn't say anything, though. Instead, she leans back and looks out the window, and Bertholdt follows her gaze. The forest is lush and green in the springtime, flower blossoms floating in the gentle breeze that passes them by. There is something about the spring that soothes him, a soft breath on his forehead. _I don't think Annie will mind if I go outside for a little bit, right? _He thinks, sneaking a peek at her. The sun comes in from her side of the car, creating a shadow effect on her face that reflects off of her soft, golden hair. Her pink lips are parted slightly as she draws in a breath, her eyes trained on him. He flushes again. Reiner's right; he stares too much.

"Hey." Annie finally says, placing her snowy hand on his earthy cheek, feeling his hot face melting her ice cold appendage. "Thanks for driving out here to teach me. It was fun."

"Of course. It was no problem." Bertholdt responds, interlacing his fingers with hers. "But… m-may I ask you a question?"

"Go for it."

"Why d-did you suddenly want to learn how?"

Annie looks at him with a strange look. Bertholdt freezes. _Was that a bad thing to say? _He asks himself, his anxiety racing around his head. To his relief, she gives him a small smile. "I was talking to Reiner the other day. He said when you two were in high school, you used to drive on those back roads for whatever reason." She shrugs. "It sounded fun, I guess. So I thought I'd give a shot at driving."

Bertholdt feels too shocked to respond. _…for me? _He swallows, the words not registering. _She did this… for me? _"O-oh, you didn't have to do that…" Bertholdt is mumbling now, looking around at the ground. "Th-thank you for thinking of me, though. That makes me feel… really great."

She pulls his face up to look her in the eyes. Her seatbelt is off, so she leans over the console to look at him, their noses bumping. "Is it really that hard to think I might want to spend time with you every once and a while?" She asks. She doesn't wait for a response, though; instead, she plants her lips on his, and he can feel the crevices in them as they press to his and he pulls her closer. She breaks away first and looks at him firmly. "You should take me with you on one of your drives." She says, command in her tone.

"Oh, no, Annie, I don't want you to be dragged alo—"

"Please?"

She says it so quietly, Bertholdt almost misses it. But it's there, and those intense blues are locked with his eyes again, her fingers tightly clasped around his. He nods, clearing his throat. "Well, if you want to come with me… I would love to have some company." He replies finally, a smile in his voice.

"Okay." Annie smiles back at him, and his heart melts. "You should drive home."

"Yes, Annie."

"And Bertholdt?"

"Hm?"

"I don't want to go home just yet. Let's go to that restaurant we like."

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**Please review! Thanks so much for reading. 3**


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